Your donation becomes an investment that creates an endless cycle of impact for women's empowerment, mental health, and Africa's rise.

Donate to invest in the Butterfly Effect Fund:

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A Revolution in Philanthropy

The Butterfly Effect Fund reimagines how giving works. We combine the heart of philanthropy with the strategic approach of venture capital, ensuring every dollar you contribute works harder, longer, and more effectively for both people and the planet.


Through our community-advised funding model, we activate capital that would otherwise sit idle, strategically investing in mission-driven ventures that create systemic change. A single contribution from you today becomes a catalyst that generates exponential impact for generations.

Why We Exist

Unlocking Dormant Capital

Billions of dollars remain inactive in donor-advised funds and foundations. While traditional philanthropy often results in one-time grants, our approach ensures your capital continuously regenerates and multiplies its impact.

Social Innovators Need Strategic Investment

By funding women-led enterprises, mental health solutions, and Africa’s rise, we are driving systemic change in areas where capital is most catalytic. These investments support entrepreneurial models that create jobs, drive innovation, and sustain long-term social progress.

A Venture Approach to Catalytic Capital

Rather than one-off grants and investments, we take a portfolio approach—backing multiple promising initiatives with the understanding that while some may not succeed, others will scale dramatically and create transformational change. Our evergreen reinvestment model ensures that all financial returns stay within the ecosystem, fueling future impact.


How We Allow Transformational Change

1. Community-Led Decision Making

Your fund is guided by the voices of those we serve. A diverse council of entrepreneurs, impact leaders, and donor partners collaboratively determines our funding priorities, ensuring resources flow exactly where they’ll create the most meaningful change.

2. Innovative and Patient Funding

Your fund deploys a strategic mix of recoverable grants, patient capital, and equity investments into high-potential social enterprises. This approach allows us to support both nonprofit and for-profit ventures with the right type of capital for their needs, while ensuring resources are efficiently regenerated for future projects.

3. Focus on Outcomes That Matter

We measure success through lives transformed, ventures scaled, and capital regenerated. Our data-driven approach ensures every investment creates meaningful, quantifiable change that grows over time.


Who We Support

Your fund backs over 40 visionary social enterprises selected from over 140 enterprises which have completed our “Day to Breathe” accelerator. These 40 have been selected because we believe that they have the capabilities to create transformation solutions in these three areas:

  • Women’s empowerment
  • Mental health & well-being
  • Africa Rising

We prioritize ventures that struggle to attract traditional capital due to longer return timelines or mission-driven priorities, yet have exceptional potential for impact.


Join The Movement

For Donors & Impact Investors

  • Put your philanthropic capital to work creating maximum impact
  • Participate in a regenerative, community-led funding model  
  • Align your resources with Forward Global’s mission of systemic change
  • Connect with a powerful network of visionary social impact leaders

Join us in creating a butterfly effect of transformation—where small, strategic investments lead to global systemic change.

About CataCap:

CataCap is a public non-profit providing an impact investing platform revolutionizing how mission-driven companies receive funding. By making investments as simple as a donation, we empower individuals and organizations to fuel transformative ventures that tackle our most pressing environmental and social challenges—all while generating financial returns.

Our cutting-edge platform pools donor-investors—whether through donor-advised funds (DAFs), foundations, or tax-deductible donations via credit card or bank transfer—unlocking capital that would otherwise remain idle. This approach bridges the worlds of giving and investing, providing a seamless way to support changemakers with purpose-driven capital.

Founded on a lifelong passion for making meaningful change irresistible, CataCap leverages the power of the private sector to drive social transformation. Whether you’re an entrepreneur seeking funding or a donor-investor looking to amplify your impact, CataCap offers an inclusive, innovative, and collaborative environment where capital creates real change. By lowering barriers to entry and fostering meaningful connections, we are redefining philanthropy and paving the way for a new era of transformative impact investing.

Join us in making impact investing accessible, scalable, and powerful.

How does donation to invest through CataCap work?

Step   1  

Start by making a tax-deductible donation. Donations can be made from a personal credit card or bank account, transfer of appreciated stock, or a grant from a foundation or donor advised fund. Funds are added to your CataCap donor account.

Step   2  

CataCap gathers investment recommendations from you and others interested in similar causes. Aggregating these funds allows us to meet minimums and create impact at scale, so every donation is meaningful, whether it’s $100 or $100,000.

Step   3  

Reinvest or grant out! You can choose to reinvest returns into new CataCap opportunities, or donate them to a 501(c)3 nonprofit, or even a donor advised fund.

CataCap is a user-friendly platform designed to connect donors with impactful investments, making it easier for everyone to participate in impact investing—without the usual high entry barriers.

Other CataCap Investments & Partners:

FAQs For Donors/Investors

Yes! Your donor advised fund (DAF) or foundation is already making investments. Most of it, estimated at 90%, sits in your DAF or foundation and is not being invested as aligned with values. Instead, it is invested in the general stock market – including weapons, oil and gas, fracking, cigarettes, and alcohol.

CataCap offers you the opportunity to recommend those funds into investments that make a meaningful difference in the areas you care about while still growing the charitable assets. The best part is that it’s as simple as making a grant from your DAF or family foundation, just like you do with any other grant. 

By channeling DAF or foundation grants into investments recommended through CataCap, you can combine financial returns with real social or environmental impact.

Well, first legally, it’s a tax-deductible donation that funds a charitable endowment. It’s then used to make impact investments for charitable and financial purposes that can come back to donor accounts to be reinvested or granted out over time.

According to Investopedia, impact investing “involves making investments to help create beneficial social or environmental effects while also generating financial gains. The point of impact investing is to use money and investment capital for positive social results.”

CataCap provides a unique and accessible platform for donors to support impact investments, whether you’re using a donor advised fund (DAF), a foundation, or direct charitable contributions via a check, credit card, stock or bank transfer. While many DAF sponsors don’t allow impact investments at all, or require minimum investments of $25,000+, CataCap allows you to participate in impact investments with as little as $250. Regardless of the size of your donor account, this makes it easy for your donated capital to diversify into a customized portfolio of impact investments.

Impact investing through CataCap may generate returns that come back to your donor account to be reinvested into other ventures or granted out to a DAF or to other nonprofits, thereby creating a continuous cycle of impact.

Impact investing through CataCap offers unique benefits compared to a traditional donation to charity. The following reasons highlight why you might choose to invest in areas like clean technology instead of simply donating to a nonprofit organization: 

  • Long-Term Social and Environmental Impact: Impact investing allows your donation to fund businesses actively working on scalable solutions, such as clean technology, renewable energy, or waste reduction. These businesses generate measurable results while being financially sustainable, allowing your contribution to create long-term change.
  • Potential for Sustainable Returns: With a traditional donation, your funds are used once for immediate impact. In contrast, impact investing through CataCap generates returns that can be reinvested into other ventures and funds, or granted to other nonprofits, creating a continuous cycle of impact.
  • Support Innovation and Market Solutions: Impact investing allows you to support innovative companies working on cutting-edge solutions to global problems. These companies often address challenges in ways that traditional nonprofits may not, contributing to market-driven progress.
  • Diverse Impact Approaches: While donating to nonprofits helps fund programs, advocacy and awareness, impact investing targets practical, scalable solutions within the private sector. By balancing both approaches, you can address social and environmental issues in more ways.
  • Financial Returns for Continued Philanthropy: Through CataCap, financial returns from impact investments remain within the nonprofit framework of CataCap, allowing those funds to be reinvested into future causes. This allows your contributions to have a longer-lasting effect than a one-time donation.

In summary, impact investing through CataCap offers a more sustainable, long-term difference by funding businesses that tackle environmental and social challenges alongside the potential for ongoing financial returns that can be reinvested in future causes.

After you make an investment recommendation on CataCap, it is held until the fundraising goal for that specific investment is met. Once the goal is reached, the investment receives the aggregate funds from all participating donors on the platform, and your pending capital is shifted to an active status.

As a CataCap donor, you can monitor your recommendations and investments. As the investment generates returns, proceeds are credited back to your CataCap donor account so you can recommend reinvestment of the funds into new impact opportunities or direct them to charitable causes that align with what you care about. CataCap keeps you updated throughout the process so you can see the impact you are helping to make.

When you donate to make impact investments through CataCap, you gain several tax advantages:

  • Immediate Tax Deduction: By donating to CataCap, you receive an immediate tax deduction for the full amount of your contribution. This qualifies as a charitable donation under IRS rules, unlike direct investments in for-profit businesses and funds.
  • Tax-Free Growth: The capital you donate is invested in socially or environmentally impactful endeavors. Any returns on these investments flow back to CataCAP, growing tax-free. If you were investing directly, you would need to pay taxes on any gains or income.
  • No K-1s or Investment Documents: Unlike direct investments, which require tax reporting K-1 forms and investment documents, making a donation through CataCap eliminates the need, after the initial donation, for any ongoing tax reporting. Once you make the donation, and get your tax deduction, there are no further tax documents or implications to manage.
  • Reinvestment or Grants: The returns generated by the investments can be reinvested into other impact ventures or granted to charitable causes, continuing the philanthropic cycle. 

In short, investing through CataCap via a donation offers significant tax benefits, eliminates ongoing tax reporting, and allows capital in the charitable endowment to grow tax-free, all while supporting impactful businesses and charitable causes.

On CataCap, it is both possible and legal to recommend investments with a donation. Here’s how it works:

When you make a donation to CataCap, it qualifies as a tax-deductible charitable contribution. These funds are then managed by CataCap, which can use them to make impact investments that align with charitable purposes. The investment is made by CataCap, not by you personally, which ensures compliance with tax and charitable giving laws, as well as disconnects you from needing to be an accredited or qualified investor (since you are not the investor!).

The key difference is that the investment is aimed at advancing a social or environmental cause, with any financial returns flowing back to CataCap, not directly to you. These returns can then be reinvested into additional impact projects or granted to other charitable organizations. This structure allows you to support impactful investments while continuing to grow charitable capital.

When you make a contribution to fund investments on CataCap, it qualifies as a tax-deductible donation because the funds are directed to a 501(c)(3) public charity. CataCap then uses these funds to make impact investments that fund environmental and social causes.

In short, you’re making a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit, which then invests in funds and companies that align with philanthropic goals—providing both financial returns to the nonprofit and meaningful societal impact.

A donor advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle that allows you to make a tax-deductible donation and recommend how those funds are distributed to qualified nonprofit organizations or impact investments. Essentially, it’s like having a personal foundation through which you can support causes while benefiting from an immediate tax deduction when you make the original donation to create the DAF.

When you use a DAF to fund your investments on CataCap, your contributions are held by CataCap on its nonprofit balance sheet or DAF, and you can recommend those funds into impact investments listed on the CataCap platform. This allows you to grow your charitable giving while making a tangible impact through innovative and purposeful investments.

Log in to your DAF provider, or have your foundation initiate a grant:

  • Request to make a grant to the Impactree Foundation (CataCap’s non profit host) in support of the CataCap project just like you would any other grant.
  • Include the Following Details:
    • Donation Recipient: Impactree Foundation
    • Project Name: CataCap – [Insert specific project name]
    • EIN: 86-2370923
    • Email: support@impactree.org
    • Address: 3749 Buchanan St Unit 475207, San Francisco, CA 94147

CataCap is a program of the Impactree Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity, and qualifies as a tax-deductible donation. Donated funds are managed by the Impactree Foundation’s CataCap program to ensure compliance with tax and charitable giving laws.

The key difference is that, with CataCap, the investment is aimed at advancing social or environmental causes, with financial returns flowing back to the Impactree Foundation and to your CataCap donor account, not to you personally. These returns are reinvested into additional impact investments or granted to a DAF or other charitable organizations. 

This structure allows you to support impactful businesses while continuing to grow your charitable capital, all while maintaining the legal benefits of your donation.

In short, you’re making a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit, which then invests in businesses and funds aligned with philanthropic goals—providing both financial returns to the charitable endowment and meaningful societal impact.

CataCap allows both direct donations and grants from foundations or DAFs. If you prefer to make a direct donation, you can contribute via credit card or bank transfer. A tax-deductible receipt will be provided for all direct donations. 

Alternatively, if you have a DAF or are working through a foundation, you can recommend grants to the Impactree Foundation to support specific investments. Both options give you flexibility in how you engage with CataCap’s projects, ensuring your contributions support ventures aligned with your charitable goals while providing the appropriate tax benefits.

The minimum donation or investment amount on CataCap is $250.00, allowing you to support impactful investments without the large minimums of private investment structure. By donating through CataCap, you can recommend your given amounts into a diverse portfolio of social and environmental impact ventures, making it easy for your charitable giving to fund impact investments.

Once you make a charitable donation to CataCap, you cannot take your money back personally. This is due to it qualifying as a tax-deductible donation (and you get that tax benefit at that time). However, any returns generated from the investments are credited back to your CataCap donor account and can be used to continue supporting impact-driven initiatives. You have the flexibility to recommend that these returns be invested into other investments, granted to any nonprofits in good standing or to a DAF, ensuring that the proceeds from your initial donation or grant continue to make a positive impact. While the initial donation or grant is irrevocable, you maintain input over how the returns are distributed, allowing your charitable goals to evolve as the investments grow.

CataCap aggregates lots of smaller donations and grants into one large pool of assets, providing a cost structure to donors as little as $250. CataCap passes these savings on to its community, providing access to capabilities typically reserved for large charitable vehicles making larger investments.

Here is the fee structure for donations and grants, charged as funds inflow to CataCap:

  • Credit Card Donations: A 4% processing fee applies to all credit card donations (this is charged by the processing company).
  • ACH Payments (or bank transfer): A 2.55% fee applies to ACH payments, with a cap of $25.
  • CataCap Fees: 1.25% per year (deducted for the first four years, equalling 5%) covers all costs.
  • These fees are deducted from your net CataCap donor account balance, but you still get the gross donation as the tax-deductible amount.

Please note that tax-deductible receipts are issued for credit card and ACH/bank transfers at the original donation amount, before any fees are deducted.

Yes! Your donor advised fund (DAF) or foundation is already making investments. Most of it, estimated at 90%, sits in your DAF or foundation and is not being invested as aligned with values. Instead, it is invested in the general stock market – including weapons, oil and gas, fracking, cigarettes, and alcohol.

CataCap offers you the opportunity to recommend those funds into investments that make a meaningful difference in the areas you care about while still growing the charitable assets. The best part is that it’s as simple as making a grant from your DAF or family foundation, just like you do with any other grant. 

By channeling DAF or foundation grants into investments recommended through CataCap, you can combine financial returns with real social or environmental impact.

Well, first legally, it’s a tax-deductible donation that funds a charitable endowment. It’s then used to make impact investments for charitable and financial purposes that can come back to donor accounts to be reinvested or granted out over time.

According to Investopedia, impact investing “involves making investments to help create beneficial social or environmental effects while also generating financial gains. The point of impact investing is to use money and investment capital for positive social results.”

CataCap provides a unique and accessible platform for donors to support impact investments, whether you’re using a donor advised fund (DAF), a foundation, or direct charitable contributions via a check, credit card, stock or bank transfer. While many DAF sponsors don’t allow impact investments at all, or require minimum investments of $25,000+, CataCap allows you to participate in impact investments with as little as $250. Regardless of the size of your donor account, this makes it easy for your donated capital to diversify into a customized portfolio of impact investments.

Impact investing through CataCap may generate returns that come back to your donor account to be reinvested into other ventures or granted out to a DAF or to other nonprofits, thereby creating a continuous cycle of impact.

Impact investing through CataCap offers unique benefits compared to a traditional donation to charity. The following reasons highlight why you might choose to invest in areas like clean technology instead of simply donating to a nonprofit organization: 

  • Long-Term Social and Environmental Impact: Impact investing allows your donation to fund businesses actively working on scalable solutions, such as clean technology, renewable energy, or waste reduction. These businesses generate measurable results while being financially sustainable, allowing your contribution to create long-term change.
  • Potential for Sustainable Returns: With a traditional donation, your funds are used once for immediate impact. In contrast, impact investing through CataCap generates returns that can be reinvested into other ventures and funds, or granted to other nonprofits, creating a continuous cycle of impact.
  • Support Innovation and Market Solutions: Impact investing allows you to support innovative companies working on cutting-edge solutions to global problems. These companies often address challenges in ways that traditional nonprofits may not, contributing to market-driven progress.
  • Diverse Impact Approaches: While donating to nonprofits helps fund programs, advocacy and awareness, impact investing targets practical, scalable solutions within the private sector. By balancing both approaches, you can address social and environmental issues in more ways.
  • Financial Returns for Continued Philanthropy: Through CataCap, financial returns from impact investments remain within the nonprofit framework of CataCap, allowing those funds to be reinvested into future causes. This allows your contributions to have a longer-lasting effect than a one-time donation.

In summary, impact investing through CataCap offers a more sustainable, long-term difference by funding businesses that tackle environmental and social challenges alongside the potential for ongoing financial returns that can be reinvested in future causes.

After you make an investment recommendation on CataCap, it is held until the fundraising goal for that specific investment is met. Once the goal is reached, the investment receives the aggregate funds from all participating donors on the platform, and your pending capital is shifted to an active status.

As a CataCap donor, you can monitor your recommendations and investments. As the investment generates returns, proceeds are credited back to your CataCap donor account so you can recommend reinvestment of the funds into new impact opportunities or direct them to charitable causes that align with what you care about. CataCap keeps you updated throughout the process so you can see the impact you are helping to make.

When you donate to make impact investments through CataCap, you gain several tax advantages:

  • Immediate Tax Deduction: By donating to CataCap, you receive an immediate tax deduction for the full amount of your contribution. This qualifies as a charitable donation under IRS rules, unlike direct investments in for-profit businesses and funds.
  • Tax-Free Growth: The capital you donate is invested in socially or environmentally impactful endeavors. Any returns on these investments flow back to CataCAP, growing tax-free. If you were investing directly, you would need to pay taxes on any gains or income.
  • No K-1s or Investment Documents: Unlike direct investments, which require tax reporting K-1 forms and investment documents, making a donation through CataCap eliminates the need, after the initial donation, for any ongoing tax reporting. Once you make the donation, and get your tax deduction, there are no further tax documents or implications to manage.
  • Reinvestment or Grants: The returns generated by the investments can be reinvested into other impact ventures or granted to charitable causes, continuing the philanthropic cycle. 

In short, investing through CataCap via a donation offers significant tax benefits, eliminates ongoing tax reporting, and allows capital in the charitable endowment to grow tax-free, all while supporting impactful businesses and charitable causes.

On CataCap, it is both possible and legal to recommend investments with a donation. Here’s how it works:

When you make a donation to CataCap, it qualifies as a tax-deductible charitable contribution. These funds are then managed by CataCap, which can use them to make impact investments that align with charitable purposes. The investment is made by CataCap, not by you personally, which ensures compliance with tax and charitable giving laws, as well as disconnects you from needing to be an accredited or qualified investor (since you are not the investor!).

The key difference is that the investment is aimed at advancing a social or environmental cause, with any financial returns flowing back to CataCap, not directly to you. These returns can then be reinvested into additional impact projects or granted to other charitable organizations. This structure allows you to support impactful investments while continuing to grow charitable capital.

When you make a contribution to fund investments on CataCap, it qualifies as a tax-deductible donation because the funds are directed to a 501(c)(3) public charity. CataCap then uses these funds to make impact investments that fund environmental and social causes.

In short, you’re making a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit, which then invests in funds and companies that align with philanthropic goals—providing both financial returns to the nonprofit and meaningful societal impact.

A donor advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle that allows you to make a tax-deductible donation and recommend how those funds are distributed to qualified nonprofit organizations or impact investments. Essentially, it’s like having a personal foundation through which you can support causes while benefiting from an immediate tax deduction when you make the original donation to create the DAF.

When you use a DAF to fund your investments on CataCap, your contributions are held by CataCap on its nonprofit balance sheet or DAF, and you can recommend those funds into impact investments listed on the CataCap platform. This allows you to grow your charitable giving while making a tangible impact through innovative and purposeful investments.

Log in to your DAF provider, or have your foundation initiate a grant:

  • Request to make a grant to the Impactree Foundation (CataCap’s non profit host) in support of the CataCap project just like you would any other grant.
  • Include the Following Details:
    • Donation Recipient: Impactree Foundation
    • Project Name: CataCap – [Insert specific project name]
    • EIN: 86-2370923
    • Email: support@impactree.org
    • Address: 3749 Buchanan St Unit 475207, San Francisco, CA 94147

CataCap is a program of the Impactree Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity, and qualifies as a tax-deductible donation. Donated funds are managed by the Impactree Foundation’s CataCap program to ensure compliance with tax and charitable giving laws.

The key difference is that, with CataCap, the investment is aimed at advancing social or environmental causes, with financial returns flowing back to the Impactree Foundation and to your CataCap donor account, not to you personally. These returns are reinvested into additional impact investments or granted to a DAF or other charitable organizations. 

This structure allows you to support impactful businesses while continuing to grow your charitable capital, all while maintaining the legal benefits of your donation.

In short, you’re making a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit, which then invests in businesses and funds aligned with philanthropic goals—providing both financial returns to the charitable endowment and meaningful societal impact.

CataCap allows both direct donations and grants from foundations or DAFs. If you prefer to make a direct donation, you can contribute via credit card or bank transfer. A tax-deductible receipt will be provided for all direct donations. 

Alternatively, if you have a DAF or are working through a foundation, you can recommend grants to the Impactree Foundation to support specific investments. Both options give you flexibility in how you engage with CataCap’s projects, ensuring your contributions support ventures aligned with your charitable goals while providing the appropriate tax benefits.

The minimum donation or investment amount on CataCap is $250.00, allowing you to support impactful investments without the large minimums of private investment structure. By donating through CataCap, you can recommend your given amounts into a diverse portfolio of social and environmental impact ventures, making it easy for your charitable giving to fund impact investments.

Once you make a charitable donation to CataCap, you cannot take your money back personally. This is due to it qualifying as a tax-deductible donation (and you get that tax benefit at that time). However, any returns generated from the investments are credited back to your CataCap donor account and can be used to continue supporting impact-driven initiatives. You have the flexibility to recommend that these returns be invested into other investments, granted to any nonprofits in good standing or to a DAF, ensuring that the proceeds from your initial donation or grant continue to make a positive impact. While the initial donation or grant is irrevocable, you maintain input over how the returns are distributed, allowing your charitable goals to evolve as the investments grow.

CataCap aggregates lots of smaller donations and grants into one large pool of assets, providing a cost structure to donors as little as $250. CataCap passes these savings on to its community, providing access to capabilities typically reserved for large charitable vehicles making larger investments.

Here is the fee structure for donations and grants, charged as funds inflow to CataCap:

  • Credit Card Donations: A 4% processing fee applies to all credit card donations (this is charged by the processing company).
  • ACH Payments (or bank transfer): A 2.55% fee applies to ACH payments, with a cap of $25.
  • CataCap Fees: 1.25% per year (deducted for the first four years, equalling 5%) covers all costs.
  • These fees are deducted from your net CataCap donor account balance, but you still get the gross donation as the tax-deductible amount.

Please note that tax-deductible receipts are issued for credit card and ACH/bank transfers at the original donation amount, before any fees are deducted.

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